No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

(Paramount Home Entertainment, 9.20.2005)

This may be the most anticipated documentary ever to air on PBS that wasn't made by Ken Burns. The thought of America's greatest musical enigma being examined by America's greatest living director never to have won an Oscar got me salivating. Scorsese had already proven his rock documentary chops with The Last Waltz so you'd expect that Marty would finally get to the heart of Dylan. Instead of covering the singer's entire career, Scorsese limits the scope of this film to Bob transforming the New York folk scene, becoming electric, and disappearing after a mysterious motorcycle crash.

The first part of the doc is perfect for the PBS crowd, focusing on the musical education of Dylan and his rise to being the next Woody Guthrie. Scorsese includes amazing vintage performances of various folk figures. Interviewees share little dirty stories of the New York folk scene including the fact that Peter, Paul and Mary were a marketing creation of manager Albert Grossman (like that fat guy who created all the boy bands in Orlando). The second half deals with Dylan avoiding the protest singer tag and having "Like A Rolling Stone" turn his adulating public into a lynch mob.

The archival film included here is simply amazing. The outtakes of D.A. Pennebaker's Eat the Document about Bob's confrontational electric tour of England in 1966 are worth the price of the DVD alone. Marty references this footage throughout the movie, which is a problem because it pulls us out of the time. We're following Dylan work his way to New York and suddenly we're seeing kids in England calling him a traitor. There's so much of Pennebaker's work in this movie that he should almost get a co-director credit.

In any case, this is a film that questions the nature of the auteur. Is this really a Martin Scorsese picture? He was not responsible for collecting a majority of the historical footage or the numerous interviews including Dylan. Marty never spoke to Dylan about this film. Jeff Rosen, a member of Dylan's team did the heavy work. It's hard to determine what makes this Marty's film.

He plants his flag when he reads Dylan's acceptance speech for the Thomas Payne award. It's the worst part of the film. Here's an elderly New Yorker giving a flat reading of a speech that was given by a 22 year old guy from Minnesota. Like so many editorial choices, it undercuts the narrative and derails the viewer.

There's also no talk of the drugs Dylan used during these supersonic days. Marty seems to want to keep this documentary family friendly. There's no exposition concerning Dylan's relationship with the Beatles and Dylan's motorcycle accident isn't really explored either. Many think Dylan wasn't critically injured, but simply used the accident as an excuse to take time off from the outside world. But the film doesn't really answer the tough questions about Dylan. Marty lets Bob walk away a clean enigma with his myths intact.

The wrap-up blurb of what Bob's been up to in the last 40 years isn't too specific. Marty displays text on the screen: "After the motorcycle accident, Bob Dylan continued to write and record songs." You could say the same thing about Billy Idol. It would have been nice if Marty mentioned that Dylan won an Oscar. Maybe he's jealous.

No Direction Home gives fans images of events only heard on various bootleg recordings. We can now see Bob's face when he's called "Judas." These moments are a thrill to watch but, as a documentary, it isn't definitive. The bonus of this DVD is seven complete songs from various events and no PBS pledge breaks. -- Joe Corey